Ex-criminal defense lawyer for Trump joins law firm in Washington

By David Thomas

March 5 (Reuters) - Evan Corcoran, who defended Donald Trump in two high-profile criminal prosecutions that were dismissed after Trump won the U.S. presidential election, has joined U.S. law and lobbying firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck in Washington, the firm said Wednesday.

Corcoran, a former federal prosecutor, defended Trump after he was charged with conspiring to defraud the United States by preventing Congress from certifying Democrat Joe Biden's 2020 victory and depriving voters of their right to a fair election.

Corcoran also represented Trump after the FBI began investigating boxes containing classified information that Trump’s aides had turned over to the National Archives and Records Administration.

Trump, a Republican, was later charged with mishandling classified documents that included information about the secretive U.S. nuclear program and potential domestic vulnerabilities in the event of an attack.

His hiring will bolster Brownstein's litigation team "since he knows the administration’s decisionmakers, he can interface with agencies to get results," Adam Bult, co-chair of the firm's litigation department, said in a statement.

Corcoran was a partner at Silverman Thompson, a 40-lawyer firm based in Baltimore. Firm managing partner Steven Silverman said Corcoran is "an exceptional lawyer and is leaving the firm on the best of terms."

Corcoran is Brownstein's latest Trump-connected hire. In January, the firm rehired David Bernhardt, a former energy lobbyist who served as the Secretary of the U.S. Interior Department during Trump's first term.

A former assistant U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., Corcoran moved to private practice in 2000. He handled business cases until former Trump White House adviser and conservative firebrand Steve Bannon hired him in 2021 to defend against contempt of Congress charges.

Bannon was found guilty in 2022 for defying a subpoena from the U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. He served four months in prison.

Both the documents and the Jan. 6 cases were brought by former Special Counsel Jack Smith. Smith dropped both cases after Trump won the November election, citing a longstanding Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting president.